GRIEF-stricken husband Liam Robinson is counting the cost of an insurance blunder by his tragic wife.

She inexplicably ticked two boxes wrongly when filling in a policy application form and the mistakes, made three years ago, came back to haunt dad-of-two Liam, after she died aged 39 following a an operation for appendicitis.

The errors have cost him an £82,000 payout which would have cleared his mortgage and protected their sons Joseph, aged six, and Jonathan, four.

Mum Catherine - the couple had been wed seven years - answered medical questions which failed to disclose her high blood pressure and a history of heart disease in her family.

But the accounts clerk died on October 16 last year from an unrelated illness, collapsing in Worcester's hospital four days after the op.

A pathologist recorded that the cause of death was appendicitis and a large abscess in the same part of her body.

Liam, aged 37, who earns £12,000 a year as a warehouseman, is now faced with a monthly mortgage of £508 on his three-bedroom terraced house in Balmoral Close, Evesham.

Stunned by a letter from Nat West Life invalidating the claim, he choked back tears as he explained: "If her death had been linked to any of the wrong answers she gave, we wouldn't have had a leg to stand on.

"We accept that she ticked the wrong answers but morally the insurers should pay up. They are being very cruel at a difficult time.

"I think it all boils down to the fact that we had not been signed up for very long and they had not had much of our money.

"She seemed to be getting better and looking forward to coming home. But we got a phone call saying things had taken a turn for the worse. When we got to the hospital she was already dead."

Investigation

An investigation by Nat West Life into medical records revealed that Catherine had been treated for hypertension and confirmed her dad died from a heart attack related to angina.

The firm has refunded premiums totalling £1,332, insisting that is the extent of their legal obligations.

In a letter to Liam, claims operations manager Martin Doughty wrote: "It is apparent that your wife failed to disclose a number of material facts and circumstances.

"I therefore regret to advise that we have no alternative but to decline the claim."

A spokesman for Nat West Life said: "We offer our deepest sympathy to Mr Robinson following the death of his wife, but unfortunately we have taken the decision to decline the claim that she had with us.

"Mr Robinson has been advised of this and is aware of the reasons for the decision which was made because, regrettably, Mrs Robinson had not disclosed details of her medical history."